Connect with us

Technology

Surveillance Pricing Bill Advances, AB 446 Stops Businesses From Setting Prices Based on Data, Says Consumer Watchdog

Published

1 year ago

on

LOS ANGELES, May 6, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — California’s landmark bill regulating surveillance pricing, AB 446 (Ward), advanced out of the Assembly Committee on Judiciary today by a vote of 8 to 3.

“Companies are using our data against us in ways that we fully don’t understand,” said Justin Kloczko, tech and privacy advocate at Consumer Watchdog. “We need a law preventing companies from using personal data to decide how much to charge each person.”

The bill was introduced by Assemblymember Chris Ward and is co-sponsored by Consumer Watchdog and the United Food and Commercial Workers Western States Council.

In an era of mass surveillance and rapidly accelerating AI, AB 446 prohibits businesses from using personal information of a consumer to adjust the price of goods, said Consumer Watchdog. Despite California having the strongest data privacy laws in America, there is nothing stopping companies from using personal data to set prices, said the nonprofit. 

“This is predatory. This is discriminatory,” said Ward during today’s Assembly Judiciary Committee hearing.

The bill proposes an outright ban on surveillance pricing, defining it as “offering or setting a customized price for a good or service for a specific consumer or group of consumers, based, in whole or in part, on covered information collected through electronic surveillance technology.”

This include data on a “consumer’s behavior, characteristics, location, or other personal attributes, whether in physical or digital environments.”

The bill has been amended to clarify exemptions. Examples of when surveillance pricing doesn’t happen include when:

The difference in price is based solely on the costs of providing the service to different consumers.A discounted price is offered based on publicly disclosed eligibility criteria, like signing up for a mailing list.A discounted price is offered to members of a group, like teachers, veterans, senior citizens, or students.A discounted price is offered through a loyalty program that consumers enroll in.

Bill supporters include the American Economic Liberties Project, Consumer Federation of America, EPIC, Consumer Reports, TechEquity, and Privacy Rights Clearinghouse. Those opposed to the bill include the California Chamber of Commerce, the American Advertising Federation, and the California Retailers Association. 

Assemblymember Ash Kalra, the committee chair, said the proposed law is not burdensome like industry opposition makes it seem.

“We don’t want surveillance technology to be used to separate people and charge them different prices,” said Kalra. “I think the outcomes then really take us down a dark path.” 

Last year, Consumer Watchdog outlined examples of pricing algorithms in a report titled “Surveillance Price Gouging.” Companies are trying to read people’s minds and anticipate how bad they want a product and how much they are willing to pay for it, based on data such as scrolling habits and geolocation, said the nonprofit. Orbitz deployed a pricing algorithm assuming that Mac users were wealthier than non-Mac users, and charged them more for hotel rooms. And despite Consumer Watchdog requesting identical rides with the same origin and destination, and the same distance and route traveled, one rider was charged $5 more on Lyft than the other person using Lyft. There shouldn’t be a reason for that, and it’s unclear why, said the nonprofit.

The Federal Trade Commission in the final days of the Biden Administrations said surveillance pricing does happen, but the FTC appears to have now bailed on the issue under the Trump FTC, said Consumer Watchdog. California legislators now have an opportunity to address surveillance pricing, said Consumer Watchdog. 

“A law regulating surveillance pricing is especially important during a time when grocery prices have increased, the data collected on us is incredibly detailed, and the unprecedented nature of corporate algorithms and AI,” said Kloczko. “This idea that every person has an individual price is a bad one.”

View a short Consumer Alert video on surveillance practice here.

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/surveillance-pricing-bill-advances-ab-446-stops-businesses-from-setting-prices-based-on-data-says-consumer-watchdog-302447892.html

SOURCE Consumer Watchdog

Related Topics:
Continue Reading
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Technology

THE WEEKND KICKS OFF EUROPEAN LEG OF RECORD-BREAKING AFTER HOURS TIL DAWN TOUR WITH TWO SOLD-OUT SHOWS AT COPENHAGEN’S PARKEN STADIUM

Published

5 minutes ago

on

June 21, 2026

By

€1 From Every Ticket Sold Across the European Tour Supports the World Food Programme Through the XO Humanitarian Fund and Global Citizen

Hi Res photos:
www.gettyimages.co.uk/search/events/776514872
PHOTO CREDIT: Samir Hussein/Getty Images

COPENHAGEN, Denmark, June 21, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — The Weeknd launched the European leg of his tour with the Denmark stop of his record-breaking After Hours Til Dawn Stadium Tour this weekend with two sold-out performances at Parken Stadium in Copenhagen, marking the next chapter of the massive European leg of the global tour.

The shows featured the tour’s acclaimed new production, including a record breaking 40-foot sculpture created by legendary Japanese artist Hajime Sorayama marketing the largest fine art commission for a live show ever. The sprawling golden ruins, immersive visuals, lasers, flames, and a career-spanning setlist featuring songs from Hurry Up Tomorrow alongside hits including “Blinding Lights,” “Starboy,” and “Can’t Feel My Face.”

The After Hours Til Dawn Tour remains the highest-grossing tour ever by a male solo artist, having surpassed $1 billion in global gross and sold more than 7.5 million tickets across 153 shows. In 2026 alone, the tour has already sold more than 3 million tickets and generated over $440 million in revenue.

Following Copenhagen, the tour continues with multi-night stadium runs across Munich, Lille, Paris, Amsterdam, Milan, Frankfurt, Warsaw, Stockholm, London, Dublin, Madrid, Barcelona and Lisbon before concluding with a final Asia leg later this year.

For more information, visit theweeknd.com/tour

THE WEEKND AFTER HOURS TIL DAWN STADIUM TOUR 2026 EU/UK DATES:
Thu Jun 11 – Manchester, UK – Etihad Stadium
Fri Jun 12 – Manchester, UK – Etihad Stadium
Fri Jun 19 – Copenhagen, Denmark – Parken
Sat Jun 20 – Copenhagen, Denmark – Parken
Thu Jun 25 – Munich, Germany – Allianz Arena
Fri Jun 26 – Munich, Germany – Allianz Arena
Sat Jun 27 – Munich, Germany – Allianz Arena
Fri Jul 3 – Lille, France – Stade Pierre Mauroy
Sat Jun 4 – Lille, France – Stade Pierre Mauroy
Wed Jul 8 – Paris, France – Stade De France
Fri Jul 10 – Paris, France – Stade de France
Sat Jul 11 – Paris, France – Stade de France
Sun Jul 12 – Paris, France – Stade de France
Thu Jul 16 – Amsterdam, Netherlands – Johan Cruijff ArenA
Fri Jul 17 – Amsterdam, Netherlands – Johan Cruijff ArenA
Sat Jul 18 – Amsterdam, Netherlands – Johan Cruijff ArenA
Tue Jul 21 – Nice, France – Allianz Riviera
Wed Jul 22 – Nice, France – Allianz Riviera
Fri Jul 24 – Milan, Italy – San Siro Stadium
Sat Jul 25 – Milan, Italy – San Siro Stadium
Sun Jul 26 – Milan, Italy – San Siro Stadium
Thu Jul 30 – Frankfurt, Germany – Deutsche Bank Park
Fri Jul 31 – Frankfurt, Germany – Deutsche Bank Park
Sat Aug 01 – Frankfurt, Germany – Deutsche Bank Park
Tue Aug 04 – Warsaw, Poland – PGE Narodowy
Wed Aug 05 – Warsaw, Poland – PGE Narodowy
Sat Aug 08 – Stockholm, Sweden – Strawberry Arena
Sun Aug 09 – Stockholm, Sweden – Strawberry Arena
Mon Aug 10 – Stockholm, Sweden – Strawberry Arena
Fri Aug 14 – London, UK – Wembley Stadium
Sat Aug 15 – London, UK – Wembley Stadium
Sun Aug 16 – London, UK – Wembley Stadium
Tue Aug 18 – London, UK – Wembley Stadium
Wed Aug 19 – London, UK – Wembley Stadium
Sat Aug 22 – Dublin, Ireland – Croke Park
Sun Aug 23 – Dublin, Ireland – Croke Park
Fri Aug 28 – Madrid, Spain – Riyadh Air Metropolitano
Sat Aug 29 – Madrid, Spain – Riyadh Air Metropolitano
Sun Aug 30 – Madrid, Spain – Riyadh Air Metropolitano
Tue Sep 1 – Barcelona, Spain – Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys
Sat Sep 5 – Lisbon, Portugal – Estadio do Restelo
Sun Sep 6 – Lisbon, Portugal – Estadio do Restelo

THE WEEKND AFTER HOURS TIL DAWN STADIUM TOUR – ASIA DATES:
Sat Sep 19 — Tokyo — Belluna Dome – NEW SHOW
Sun Sep 20 — Tokyo — Belluna Dome
Sat Sep 26 — Jakarta — Jakarta International Stadium
Sun Sep 27 — Jakarta — Jakarta International Stadium
Fri Oct 2 — Singapore — National Stadium
Sat Oct 3 — Singapore — National Stadium
Wed Oct 7 — Seoul — Goyang Stadium
Thu Oct 8 — Seoul — Goyang Stadium
Sun Oct 11 — Bangkok — Rajamangala Stadium
Mon Oct 12 — Bangkok — Rajamangala Stadium
Tue Oct 13 — Bangkok — Rajamangala Stadium – NEW SHOW
Sat Oct 24 — Hong Kong — Kai Tak Stadium – NEW SHOW
Sun Oct 25 — Hong Kong — Kai Tak Stadium – NEW SHOW
Fri Oct 30 — Hong Kong — Kai Tak Stadium
Sat Oct 31 — Hong Kong — Kai Tak Stadium
Wed Nov 4 — Kuala Lumpur — TM Stadium National
Thu Nov 5 — Kuala Lumpur — TM Stadium National

ABOUT THE WEEKND:
Filtering R&B and pop through an ambitious widescreen lens, The Weeknd took over popular music and culture on his own terms. The multi-platinum and 7x Diamond certified star is one of the world’s most listened-to artists on Spotify, boasting 111 million monthly listeners and holding the record for the highest number of monthly listeners for over two years. In 2023, the Guinness Book of World Records named him “The Most Popular Artist in the World.”

The Weeknd serves as a Goodwill Ambassador for the World Food Programme (WFP) and was named Humanitarian of the Year by BMAC. From 2020 to now, he has donated over $12million to various charities. This includes $2 million to support WFP’s emergency food and nutrition assistance in the most food-insecure regions of Ethiopia and $4.5 million to help WFP provide over 18 million loaves of bread to feed families in Gaza through his XO Humanitarian Fund, established in partnership with World Food Program USA.

ABOUT THE WORLD FOOD PROGRAMME
The World Food Programme is the 2020 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate and the world’s leading humanitarian organization, saving lives in emergencies and using food assistance to build a pathway to peace, stability and prosperity for people recovering from conflict, disasters and the impact of climate extremes. WFP is the world’ biggest humanitarian agency and provided food assistance to over 120 million people in more than 100 countries in 2025. 

Every contribution helps WFP deliver food, hope, and resilience to families facing hunger. You can join The Weeknd in supporting WFP’s mission by donate through Stop Sult Fonden in Denmark via MobilePay number 68500 or through the Share the Meal app. Even small contributions make a difference – just DKK 5 can feed a child for an entire day.

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/the-weeknd-kicks-off-european-leg-of-record-breaking-after-hours-til-dawn-tour-with-two-sold-out-shows-at-copenhagens-parken-stadium-302805856.html

Continue Reading

Technology

BlueNexus Technologies Unveils AquaX Hub at SIWW 2026 — AI Autonomous Operations Extended to Legacy Water Assets

Published

3 hours ago

on

June 21, 2026

By

SINGAPORE, June 21, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — At Singapore International Water Week (SIWW) 2026, BlueNexus Technologies unveiled the global debut of AquaX Hub™ — a compact plug-and-play edge device that brings full AI-powered autonomous operation to standalone water equipment and legacy treatment plants. The launch drew sustained engagement from utilities, industrial operators and engineering firms.

The water sector confronts converging pressures: aging infrastructure, a critical shortage of skilled technicians, and relentless operational cost escalation. AquaX Hub™ answers these directly — extending the AI autonomous operation already proven plant-wide by AquaX Robot™ to a single asset, and delivering comparable monitoring and operational management without a control-system overhaul.

“The industry cannot hire its way out of this problem,” said Jack Zhang, CEO of BlueNexus Technologies. “AI autonomous operation is no longer a future concept — the barrier to entry is gone.”

The AquaX Ecosystem

BlueNexus has built the industry’s first fully integrated AI autonomous water operation platform, spanning three complementary pillars:

AquaX Robot™ is the flagship plant-wide AI agent, built on large language models with proprietary vision, acoustic and infrared multimodal sensing. It optimizes treatment processes 24/7 and predicts equipment failures. Live deployments show up to 90% reduction in on-site staffing, a 50% drop in equipment breakdowns, and approximately 35% lower O&M costs.

AquaX Hub™, making its global debut at SIWW 2026, is a lightweight edge terminal extending that capability to any water system. With an independent local processing module, it monitors and inspects equipment through multimodal sensing and runs a self-contained processing loop. The device integrates seamlessly with existing SCADA, cloud and enterprise platforms via standardized APIs.

i-WaterHub™, the company’s standardized modular treatment plant, operated autonomously by AquaX Robot, delivers 2,500 to 40,000 m³/day for municipal and industrial applications.

Market Momentum

SIWW 2026 convened nearly 500 exhibitors from over 65 countries. BlueNexus has identified priority markets for AquaX Hub™ in Southeast Asia, the Middle East and Africa. “The conversations this week have already translated into concrete business opportunities and we expect rapid deployment in the coming months.” Zhang confirmed.

About BlueNexus Technologies

BlueNexus Technologies is a Singapore-based water-technology company building intelligent, AI-operated systems for the world’s most water-intensive industries. We design and deliver modular water treatment infrastructure that is smarter to run, faster to deploy, and built to operate autonomously.

Web: www.bluenexus.tech

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/apac/news-releases/bluenexus-technologies-unveils-aquax-hub-at-siww-2026–ai-autonomous-operations-extended-to-legacy-water-assets-302805849.html

SOURCE BlueNexus Technologies

Continue Reading

Technology

VIVATECH 2026 CELEBRATES ITS 10TH ANNIVERSARY WITH A RECORD EDITION SURPASSING 200,000 VISITORS

Published

11 hours ago

on

June 20, 2026

By

With the presence of Emmanuel Macron and Narendra Modi, Prime Minister of India

PARIS, June 20, 2026 /CNW/ — From June 17 to 20, 2026 at Paris Porte de Versailles, VivaTech celebrated its 10th edition, surpassing the exceptional milestone of 200,000 visitors from 165 nationalities, with more than 15,000 startups present, 1,155 speakers and over 5 billion cumulative impressions on social media. Europe’s largest tech and innovation event has reached a new dimension, consolidating its status as an unmissable global gathering.

Exceptional speakers

VivaTech welcomed the greatest figures in global tech: Jeff Bezos (Amazon & Blue Origin), Dave Limp (Blue Origin), Bernard Arnault (LVMH), Henna Virkkunen (European Commission), Ekaterina Zaharieva (European Commission). Germany, Country of the Year 2026, was represented by a ministerial delegation, while India, AI Country Partner 2026, was led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, as a continuation of the AI Summit in New Delhi.

Innovation and business at the heart of the event

More than 4,500 exhibitors, 61% of whom were international, showcased their latest innovations. Among the standout innovations: the smart contact lens by XPANCEO, the thought-controlled humanoid robot by Unitree x HABS, and the 3D-printed resorbable implants by Lattice Medical. New formats such as the Business Plaza and Investors Office Hours further accelerated business connections.

The VivaTech x Bloomberg Awards

For the first time, VivaTech presented the VivaTech x Bloomberg Awards, recognising the most influential figures in global tech, including Sir Tim Berners-Lee (Visionary Award), Joe Tsai (Leadership Award) and Yann LeCun (Momentum Award).

Innovation open to all

VivaTech also took over the Champs-Élysées on June 14th for an open-air technology showcase, before opening its doors to the general public on June 20th with astronaut Thomas Pesquet as guest star.

“This 10th edition was not a celebration of the 9 previous years, but the opening of a new decade full of promise.” — Maurice Lévy, Michèle Benbunan & François Bitouzet, VivaTech

See you from June 16 to 19, 2027 at Paris Expo Porte de Versailles for VivaTech 2027!

About VivaTech

VivaTech accelerates innovation by connecting startups, tech leaders, major companies, and investors responding to our world’s biggest challenges.  

Each year, over four exciting days in Paris, VivaTech creates Europe’s biggest startup and tech event, exploring the most disruptive topics in tech with world-premiere demos, launches, and conferences in a collaborative ecosystem. This is where business meets innovation. Join us for the eleventh edition of VivaTech 16-19 June 2027.

For more information go to our website at https://vivatech.com/media or follow us on social media @VivaTech.

Contact
press@vivatechnology.com 

Logo: https://mmx.prnewswire.com/media/MS1865564/VT_LOGO_EN.jpg
Photo : https://mmx.prnewswire.com/media/MS1869778/VivaTech_2026.jpg

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/vivatech-2026-celebrates-its-10th-anniversary-with-a-record-edition-surpassing-200-000-visitors-302805827.html

SOURCE VivaTech

Continue Reading

Trending